What do we know about two-sport athletes? Usually, they are gifted enough to excel at both sports and make an impact on the game. What about their personalities? Deion Sanders, or "Prime-Time" as he was called, excelled at baseball and football for numerous teams.

Scott Fleck has added a new role that dual athletes assume. Fleck showed true sportsmanship on and off the field for the Cyclones throughout his career.

Fleck was awarded the Maxi Mathis III Male Athlete-All Sports Sportsmanship Award for Russellville High School. The award represents the best male athlete who shows sportsmanship in their sports. Fleck was a two-sport athlete, who participated in both basketball for coach Joe Sitkowski and soccer for coach Jared Fuller.

"It's an honor to receive this award and there's not too many better places to play sports other than Russellville because you have the great fan base and great coaches," Fleck said.

"It's a great honor for him and his family both. It's something he's very deserving of. I think he's a great representative for that award. He's one of these kids who comes around once in a lifetime for a coach. It's a great honor to have a kid receive that award after Maxi Mathis III," Sitkowski said.

"Work ethic and discipline is something we try to instill in our players. Scott was one of our leaders this year, but he was somebody everybody looked up to, and was a role model on and off the field. That's the kind of kid he is. It comes naturally to some people, and he's one of those people that being a leader comes natural to," Fuller said.

Each coach has an opportunity to nominate one player who best exemplifies what sportsmanship is. The award was named after Mathis III, who was a basketball player back in the late 1980s. Fleck fit the model, being named captain on both his basketball and soccer team. Fleck played forward in both soccer and basketball.

"Hard work and a good work ethic helped me to become successful." Fleck said. "All you have to do is practice and practice. It will show up in the game sooner or later."

"Scott's been a leader on and off the court for us. He was our team captain this last year. He's one of those kids you can count on to give 100 percent whatever he was doing. You never had to worry about him getting in trouble, doing anything wrong. He did everything the best he could," Sitkowski said.

"Scott played two sports, and that's a hard achievement these days, and he does it with a grade point average above 4.0. He's never one of those kids that says I didn't turn this in or didn't study for this to try to leave early. He takes care of business and budgets his time. He's one of those kids who holds the integrity of the game, and he wants to play the game as hard as he can within the rules. He wants to win. I think that's what the award is about, and that's what he shows," Fuller said.

Fleck led his basketball team to a 17-12 overall record and made it to the second round of the state tournament in basketball. His soccer team lost in the first round of the playoffs, but Fleck played an instrumental role as a leader. Sitkowski called Fleck a great person, and leader while Fuller said Fleck was a natural athlete.

"Scott's not only a great player, he's a great person. He really shows what athletics is about. It's about competing out there whether you win or lose. It's about sportsmanship, and you have to know how to win and how to lose, and that's what athletics is all about. Scott is a good example of what that's supposed to be," Sitkowski said.

"He's a natural athlete. God gave him size and speed, but he worked hard at that. He's very strong and takes care of himself. He's become a well-tuned athlete," Fuller said.

Sitkowski said he hopes Fleck has learned the importance of a hard work ethic and motivation. He said he believed these are the things that made Fleck so successful as a player. Fleck said he learned how to take more initiative and learned how to become a leader from Sitkowski.

"I've learned from him that someone who works hard can really achieve whatever goals they want. You don't always have to have the most talent to make an impact. He did whatever it took to win," Sitkowski said.

"Sitkowski taught me more how to be a leader on the court, he taught me to be more vocal." Fleck said. "That also helped me on the soccer field."

Fuller said Fleck was a great player to coach and played a vital role in the Cyclones' soccer season. Both Fuller and Sitkowski said they never had a problem with Fleck or his work ethic. Both coaches said they were lucky to coach such a player, and that Fleck was deserving of the award.

"This whole year has been a blessing. Kids like Scott Fleck are a blessing to coach. They're there to do their best and work hard for you." Fuller said. They don't question. They do it because they know as a coach, you know what's best for the team," Fuller said.

"Coach Fuller taught me how to take on more initiative, so he helped me work and earn the ball. It was a role reversal from basketball because I was yelling at people telling them what to do," Fleck said.

Fleck talked about his favorite moments while playing basketball and soccer. He said he liked playing defense in basketball and offense in soccer. The role reversal helped him to become a better player at both sports.

"My favorite moment in basketball was beating Bryant coming back and winning the game at the last second. In soccer, my best moment was saving a goal in last years' state tournament and breaking my toe, but we ended up beating Conway in a shoot-out," Fleck said.

"I love playing defense in basketball since it was my main role, and I like the close student involvement. In soccer, I was more of an offensive player and liked that since it was a change from basketball. Soccer isn't as much of an individual sport as basketball is. It's more of a team sport," he said.

Fleck said his biggest inspiration was his father. Fleck said his father was always there and helped him with everything.

"He played college basketball and coached a lot of my teams when I was younger, teaching me the fundamentals. Even though he didn't play soccer, he was always there and had his two cents to throw in after every game. He would help me with things I needed to work on and what I was doing well with," Fleck said.

Fleck plans to attend the University of Arkansas in the fall with soccer All-Star teammate Kyle Spragins. He said he was proud of his award and hoped he represented Russellville well.

"Winning that award is more of an honor than anything else. You get the award based on how you play and how you act on and off the court/field. It means a lot that I received the award, and it makes me feel rewarded for all of my hard work," he said.

"I hope I've given Russellville a good example of how to play sports competitively and behaving/acting the right way. Russellville has given me a great experience. I loved all the teams I played for, I had great coaches and couldn't really ask for a better environment."

Fleck has been a model athlete for future players to take after. He conducted himself respectfully on and off the court, while taking caring of business for the Cyclones. Look out for a newer more respectful generation of athletes to come from the state of Arkansas and make an impact at the collegiate and even pro level for years to come with players like Fleck.